Sumner County elementary school principal resigns after demotion

SUMNER COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — A Gallatin elementary school principal spoke to News 2 after being demoted from a job and school she loved.

Kathy Vinson had been principal at Benny Bills Elementary for six years. She said it hurts to not return to Benny Bills for the new school year.

Sumner County Director of Schools Dr. Scott Langford demoted Vinson to an assistant principal job at a different school. Vinson decided to resign and leave Sumner County schools entirely.

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She recently started blogging and writing on Facebook about the challenges of working in education today. The page is called TOO Consumed . Vinson said that’s what Langford’s criticism of her was when he demoted her – she was “too consumed” with student behavior.

“There was just a lack of support, or even acknowledgment of what we were dealing with,” said Vinson. “The physical needs that they are lacking, that comes out as behavior issues. You see kids that are aggressive. They hit and kick other students. They hit and kick the teachers. They would hit and kick me.”

Langford told News 2 he takes issue with Vinson saying she did not receive support from the central office.

“We were in constant communication with her. And the reality is, you can give all the help you want to someone, but they have to access it and take advantage of it to make it work. And Dr. Vinson just didn’t do that, so I had to make the change,” said Langford.

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The new principal at Benny Bills is Reed Clapp. He was the assistant principal at Station Camp Elementary.

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